I asked Garrett if he had any requests for meals this week (as I do most weeks) and he said “I want Indian-y food and Asian-y food.” And then I asked him if we had vindaloo seasoning in the spice drawer and (standing right next to it) he looked at me and said “Yeah, I have no idea.”

WELL HOW ABOUT YOU CHECK FOR ME, KIND SIR. HELLO???? (Men!)

Anyway, we do this dance weekly when we are coming up with a menu. I talk about what recipes have been inspiring me, he tells me what he is in the mood for and of course then I make him open every door and cupboard to find out which ingredients we do and and don’t have in between bouts of him yelling at the football game on the television. I’m sure there are more efficient ways to do this, but this works for us. Sometimes I wish it was a little more like that book Porn For Women, but we always nail down a menu no matter what. Real Life Meal Planning, you know?

Tuesday
Lunch: Butter Chicken over Sauteed Garlic Rainbow Chard
Dinner: Orange Chicken + Broccoli + Salad — I know this keeps appearing on my menus, but it has been the meal we end up skipping because we have leftovers or something. I WANT TO EAT THIS DAMN ORANGE CHICKEN! So this week…we will.

As an annual tradition, as soon as we finish Thanksgiving dinner, we start planning Christmas dinner — like while our dishes are still on the table. Garrett can not understand how people who are full can talk about food so he is guaranteed to be grossed out every year. The rest of my family and I LOVE LOVE LOVE meal planning (obviously) so we have a great time debating whether to cook turkey again or ham (not my favorite) or to do something completely different. This year, we’re going for the latter and doing an All Day Menu.

You see, we have a Breakfast Tradition on Christmas and that is Menudo — a Mexican soup made with a beef/chili base and hominy. My grandfather (who was Mexican) used to make it every year, but even though he is gone we still keep the tradition alive. It’s served in big bowls with tons of oregano, lemon and freshly chopped onions and buttery corn tortillas on the side. Most people think it sounds a little different, but honestly it’s totally amazing! Even Garrett was unsure of it his first Christmas with my family but now he loves it — and even eats it full of tripe! Which, um…ACK! I eat the tripe-free version, I’m not THAT hardcore.

So after Menudo, and our traditional egg casserole (which I will post sometime soon, man it is it tasty and easy!) and pastries, and appetizers and yada yada yada — well you get the picture. Everyone ends up being full at dinner and we have a giant ham in the oven that no one’s *really* hungry for. Don’t get me wrong — WE EAT IT — but then everyone is full and sick and “Hey, what’s for dessert?” You know what I mean?

So this year, to combat that problem, we are doing mostly appetizers and dessert. A grazing ALL DAY LONG Menu.